February 2020 Wrap Up!

Another month gone, apparently we’re whizzing through 2020! Despite this being the shortest month of the year, I still hit my goal of reading 8 books a month which should keep me on track to hit 100 books this year – though I’d definitely like to try and increase this! I have to say that my favourite of the month can’t be anything other than The Hand on the Wall! You guys know I was so hyped for that. Anyway, here are the books I read in February!

1. And I Darken by Kiersten White – 2.5 Stars

So, this was a big fat disappointment! I was so excited for a gender-bent Vlad the Impaler historical retelling but unfortunately the execution just really let it down for me. I had so many problems with the writing that I just couldn’t enjoy the story, and ended up having a really mixed experience reading this. If you want to know more, I have a full review here!

2. Crooked House by Agatha Christie – 5 Stars

I continued on my Agatha Christie binge this month and had a great time with this one. It had very similar vibes to the film Knives Out, which I LOVED, and I would definitely say they pulled a huge amount of inspiration for that film from this book. We see an eccentric family fighting over blame and finances after the death of the head of the family – it was full of plot twists and red herrings. Definitely one of my favourite Christie’s so far!

3. The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie – 3 Stars

This wasn’t a favourite of mine, but still enjoyable. The format was very different to previous books, following a serial killer and trying to anticipate his next move. This format just didn’t gel with me as much as other books, but that’s totally personal taste. The twist also didn’t seem as plausible as others I’ve read!

4. Heartstopper Vol 3 by Alice Oseman- 4 Stars

This was really cute, as always! In this instalment, we got to see Nick and Charlie’s relationship solidify as they spent more time alone together and tackled the task of coming out to their friends and classmates. As well as having little subplots and romances between the side characters, which I adored. I did also spot a couple of little easter eggs to Alice’s other books in here too. The only reason this felt like a 4 star rather than a 5 star was that I didn’t feel as much emotional depth in this instalment as I did in previous books.

5. The Hand on the Wall by Maureen Johnson – 4.5 Stars

Aw man, this was a WILD ride. I adore this series, as I’m sure you know. In fact, I wrote a whole post on why you should read Truly Devious. Anyway, this was the final book in the trilogy that wrapped the whole story up and it was just SO WELL EXECUTED. You know when you read a mystery and at the end you get this feeling like everything was just too convenient and not surprising enough? Or too far fetched that you couldn’t believe it? Well I felt none of that. The plot was just exquisite. The only reason I knocked off half a star was simply because it started a little slow and I was expecting more drama to begin with.

6. War Horse by Michael Morpurgo – 5 Stars

My mum has been begging me to read this for YEARS! She’s been a big fan since before the film came out, but I never liked Michael Morpurgo as a child so I didn’t read it. However, I was stuck with nothing to listen to and this was available through my library without a wait so I gave it a go. It was a really moving, lovely, powerful story told through the eyes of an army horse. Definitely one of the most powerful children’s books I’ve read and, critically, it was a really fantastic read.

7. All Your Twisted Secrets by Diana Urban – 4 Stars

I really enjoyed this upcoming mystery thriller! It was kind of like if ‘One of us is Lying’ was actually good. I won’t too much about this because I’ll have a full review up closer to publication date (it will probably go live next week, so don’t forget to follow!), but it will say that it did a fantastic job of turning high school stereotypes on their heads and making something new of this trope.

8. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo – ALL THE STARS IN THE WORLD! (5 Stars)

Ugh so this book is perfect. It was actually a reread, I read it last year but just didn’t connect with it for some reason, so I thought I’d give it another go before moving onto Crooked Kingdom and it was a bloody masterpiece. So beautifully written, the characters are incredible and the plot is so exciting. This really is the pinnacle of YA fantasy. If you’re sleeping on Leigh Bardugo, I strongly suggest you pick one of hers up.